Bono says he's sorry for dumping their album into your phone.
In September 2014, iTunes users found the album "Songs of Innocence" already downloaded to their devices, and people weren't happy.
The Guardian has published an excerpt from his upcoming memoir "Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story."
In it, he recalls approaching Apple CEO Tim Cook with the idea.
Cook said, "You want to give this music away free? But the whole point of what we're trying to do at Apple is to not give away music free. The point is to make sure musicians get paid."
Bono responded, "No, I don't think we give it away free. I think you pay us for it, and then you give it away free, as a gift to people. Wouldn't that be wonderful?'"
He continued, "I think we should give it away to everybody; it's their choice whether they want to listen to it."
Cook was extremely skeptical but was eventually convinced by Bono.
Man, was he wrong. It's a move that still haunts them.
Bono says he takes full responsibility for the misstep, saying, "I'd thought if we could just put our music within reach of people, they might choose to reach out toward it. Not quite."
Bono recalls some of the reactions from iTunes users.
One person wrote, "Woke up this morning to find Bono in my kitchen, drinking my coffee, wearing my dressing gown, reading my paper."
Another clapped back "The free U2 album is overpriced."
"Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story" out November 1.
feature image courtesy of Zarastro1040 via youtube
